ABSTRACT
The representation of non-Western cultures in opera has long been a focus of critical inquiry. Within this field, the diverse relationships between opera and First Nations and Indigenous cultures, however, have received far less attention. Opera Indigene takes this subject as its focus, addressing the changing historical depictions of Indigenous cultures in opera and the more contemporary practices of Indigenous and First Nations artists. The use of 're/presenting' in the title signals an important distinction between how representations of Indigenous identity have been constructed in operatic history and how Indigenous artists have more recently utilized opera as an interface to present and develop their cultural practices.
This volume explores how operas on Indigenous subjects reflect the evolving relationships between Indigenous peoples, the colonizing forces of imperial power, and forms of internal colonization in developing nation-states. Drawing upon postcolonial theory, ethnomusicology, cultural geography and critical discourses on nationalism and multiculturalism, the collection brings together experts on opera and music in Canada, the Americas and Australia in a stimulating comparative study of operatic re/presentation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|78 pages
Critical and Comparative Contexts
chapter 3|16 pages
“Singing from The Margins”
part II|65 pages
Australian Perspectives
chapter 5|22 pages
“To Didj or Not to Didj”
chapter 6|26 pages
Giving Voice to the Un-voiced “Witch” and the “Heart of Nothingness”
part III|51 pages
Indianism in the Americas
chapter 10|22 pages
Composed and Produced in the American West, 1912–1913
part IV|67 pages
Canadian Perspectives
chapter 11|20 pages
Assimilation, Integration and Individuation
chapter 13|14 pages
Peaceful Surface, Monstrous Depths
part V|59 pages
New Creation and Collaborative Processes